Media violence: Pointing at the wrong culprit

Nowadays, violence in the streets is becoming commonplace. Headlines are screaming of assaults and other senseless crimes. Thus, it is necessary to understand what causes violence to minimize, if not stop, its prevalence in society. In this age of technology, media is very influential among people because of its global reach. Thus, there have been arguments that media violence translates to societal violence. Through the years, there has been an increase in the quantity of violence, and media has been transforming to a more sexual, graphic, and sadistic media. Because of the technological development, bullets exploding in people's brains were seen in slow motion in movies. Wrestling fans cheer over hard-hitting action, and one particular video game's, Grand Theft Auto, goal is murdering as many people as possible. Moreover, extremely violent lyrics are common in music. The Web makes access to all these kinds of media easily accessible as well as contains violent materials (Vidal, Clemente, & Espinosa, 2003). The presence of cruelty in different types of media means that it is appealing to people. Violence is incorporated to media because it is what â€Å"sells† to people. The question now is, Does it cause societal violence? Many believe that people exposed to violence in the media have a more aggressive behavior. Media has been accused of teaching children how to kill people. However, the actual connection between media and violence is yet to be established (Bushman & Anderson, 2001), and some researchers believe that blaming media is only one way for others who refuse to believe that the actual violence is seen at home and in the community. Indeed, guns, drugs, alcohol, and poverty heavily influence youth, much more than media does. Those who are believed to be influenced by media live in ghetto cities where people mostly are in the low socioeconomic bracket and belong to the minority groups. A common factor among these people is the presence of abuse and violence, even before the media became a part of the popular culture. Rap music, accused for its violent lyrics, originated from these areas, a reflection of the experiences of those who created the music. Artists of metal music are said to incite violent tendencies among youth, and Marilyn Manson was blamed for the Columbine shooting. Similar to rappers, metal music artists usually had poor upbringing and exposed to violence throughout their childhood. Cases against the rock bands claiming that they are responsible for influencing the violence in teenagers were dismissed because the teenagers were under the influence of drugs and, similarly to most artists, have depressing lives. In reality, music does not cause violence; rather, musicians are only expressing the violence that they experienced in the society.Approximately 90% of violent youths were exposed to violence at homes, were abused, and have depressing lives, even before they learned how to listen to music. As regards movies depicting violent scenes, these only slightly increase aggression (Freedman, 2002). Similarly to music, movies only emulate reality, and the graphics only help to make films as â€Å"real life† as possible. Again, it is the poor home environment that raises a violent child. As an example, movies, animes, and video games in Japan are more violent than in the United States, but are there any reported incidents of shootings by teenagers at school? None. Furthermore, there are less incidence of crimes committed by teenagers. Indeed, violence in society is rapidly rising, but people should not point their fingers at the wrong culprit—media. Media violence does not cause societal violence; rather, violence is only portrayed in media. Although it is true that violence in media increases aggression in children, ultimately, proper upbringing is essential to ensure that a child does not grow to be a violent person. Instead of focusing on media violence, people should focus on the real problem—poverty, drugs and alcohol, loose gun laws, and domestic violence. References Bushman, B. & Anderson, C. (2001). Media violence and the American public: Scientific fact versus media misinformation. American Psychologist, 56(6–7), 477–489. Freedman, J. (2002). Media violence and its effect on aggression: Assessing the scientific evidence. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Vidal, M.A., Clemente, M., & Espinosa, P. (2003). Types of media violence and degree of acceptance in

Location Decision and Sustainability Essay

In this paper we are going to give an in-depth perspective on the subjects of location decision, clusters and corporate social responsibility. First, we will address the location decision subject. Second, we will discuss clusters and different cluster types. Last, we will review the corporate social responsibility subject. After giving an in-depth perspective on the three subjects, we will discuss the relationship between these different topics. Location Decision Location decision is an important strategic decision that must be considered by a firm. It is important because the location strategy could affect the ability of the firm to reach it consumer, to produce in economic scale, or even to get access to the resource they needs. Location decision could also be able to give the firm a competitive advantage, because of transfer of knowledge, innovation, specialisation, and complementariness. In choosing a country, there are two main dimensions that usually be considered. Those two main dimensions are country competitiveness and also risk of the country. The country competitiveness usually is divided into two main categories, which are the market competitiveness and also the industry competitiveness. A firm should able to assess those categories to find out in which location or in which country they should operate to maximize their opportunity and profits and minimize their risks and costs. Country Opportunity Assessing the market opportunity for a country means that we assessing the potential demand that available in a country. The variables that take into account for this assessment are the growth of the market, the size of the market, and also the quality of the demand that exist on the market in a certain country. This market assessment will define whether it is worth or not to start a business in that country, will the firm have a good demand or not, and will that demand able to generate profit for the firm or not. Looking some macroeconomics indicators can assess the market opportunity. Those indicators can be the GDP, GDP per capita, and income distribution, etc. ooking to those indicators can give us an insight about the market size of the country or country buying power compared to another country, etc. the quality of demand is describing the segmentation of the countries. Generally countries are grouped into 4 main clusters: †¢Developing countries, low income per capita, and low growth †¢Emerging countries, relatively low income per capita but high in growth †¢The newly industrialized economies, high growth and moderate to high wealth †¢The final cluster, low growth and high wealth, usually these countries have already reached their ‘maturity’. The other important opportunity that needs to be considered is the industry opportunities. The industry opportunity is including a broad part of aspects. Those aspects are the resource (including human resource and natural resource), the infrastructures, and also government policies (such as government incentive to enhance foreign investment, or tax reduction). A company needs to consider the human resource issue. It is usually addressing the quality of the labor in a country. It is also considering the minimum wages or average wages of labor in a country. That issue is an important issue because it will affect the production cost and production process. The natural resource issue usually also become some major strategic issue because it enables the firm to get closer to the input that they needs including strategic geographical location that can benefits their mobility. Country Risks Beside the opportunities, a firm should also consider the risks of the country. There are some major risks that need to be considered. Political risk, this risk have a high relation with the government policies and political condition in each country. A country with an unstable politic environment may have higher risk of rioting or policy changed. It can cause disadvantage for the firm such as vandalism to firm’s assets, or difficulties from the bureaucracy. Economic risk, this economic risk is including the inflation rate, economic growth, exchange rates of the currency, and also the variability. A firm needs to consider it carefully because it surely will affect the company stability and profitability. Competitive risk, this risk refers to the risk that company gets from the competition, the business group, cartels, or even the competitive advantage among product that being sold in the company. Operational risk, this risk is covering the risks from infrastructures, supplier policy, or even government regulation such as taxation, and nationalistic preference. Location Strategy After knowing the opportunity and the risks that exist in a country. A company should use that data to forming their strategy. The firm needs to compare a list of country to know which country that is the best for their investment, considering the risk and the opportunity of each of them. Clusters In this section of the paper we are going to discuss clusters. In order to explain what clusters are, we will use the definition given to clusters by Michael Porter (1990), which he used for his study of clusters. â€Å"clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, firms in related industries, and associated institutions in a particular field that compete but also cooperate†. There are many different types of clusters, which we will discuss below. However, we are going to start by explaining how and why corporations form clusters. Usually for clusters to arise there are already certain resources and capabilities available in a certain area, which are important for the industry and thus the cluster that is formed there. Next, there need to be several corporations that see the advantages of joining and creating a cluster. This is necessary so the different corporations can work together to improve their cluster and add value to it. This will attract new players for it, who can add even extra value to the created cluster. As this process continues, more players tent to join the cluster because it becomes more important every time for the general industry on which the cluster is based, but also because a lot of knowledge and resources are generated within the cluster on which a corporation not joining it, would miss out. Besides generating a lot of knowledge and industry advantages, clusters also improve the general competitiveness of a certain area. Moreover, they can significantly boost the economy of the area were the cluster is situated as many employment opportunities are created alongside the expansion of the cluster. According to the research of Lundequist and Power (2002) four types of clusters exist. These are the industry-led initiatives, the top-down cluster-branding exercises, the visionary projects and temporal clusters. We will discuss each type separately below. The industry-led initiatives are clusters that depend greatly on involving the public sector into the cluster. Moreover, they are the key importance of regional economic growth in their area and they can even bring national economic growth. The second cluster type is the top-down cluster-branding exercises. This type does not have the industry as its key building block but instead builds on the public sector. Also, this type does not find the creation of the clusters itself very important, but focuses on the creation of a brand name first. The third cluster type is the visionary cluster. As the name says, this cluster builds on one strong vision and it therefore needs good leadership in order to execute this vision. Thus, this type needs ‘cluster motors’ (Lundequist and Power, 2002) which are firms that can really start up the cluster and keep it going. In order to sustain this cluster there needs to be a good task division in terms of responsibilities and tasks. This all needs to be supported by a good and strong network and environment. The last cluster type is the temporal cluster and is usually build up around natural resources and physical conditions. Noteworthy is that this type can even be climate-driven and seasonal, meaning that the cluster does not always exist outside certain seasons for example. Lundequist and Power (2002) mention some similarities in all these types of clusters and they are worth mentioning quickly. First, all types work best when there are multiple players with a large interest in the cluster. Moreover, it is important that a clear vision is present for it. Above we mentioned the ‘cluster motors’ which is especially important with regard to the visionary cluster, but all types benefit greatly if such motors are present. Second, it is important if every corporation has a clear view of what they add to the cluster. Thus, good management should be present to support this. Third, it was mentioned explicitly for the second cluster type, but again all types benefit from brand building and thus attention should be paid to marketing this. Last, the progress made within the clusters is very important and appropriate policies and strategies should be present to support this. To conclude, not all cluster types fit exactly in the definition given at the beginning of this part but all have proven to be successful initiatives (Lundequist and Power, 2002). However next to Porter also Eden (2002) and Markusen (1996) identified a cluster typology. According to Eden a cluster could be horizontal (specialized) or vertical (complementary). However it must be said that Eden actually identifies the cluster characteristics than cluster types. Markusen on the other hand identifies the type of clusters by the geographic area, the type of clusters are formed within a metropolitan area. The four types she identifies are Marshallian Industrial Districts and Subdistricts, Hub and Spoke Industrial Districts, Satellite Platform Districts and State Anchored Industrial Districts. The typology in her case is derived from the geographic, public or private investment decisions, the availability of labor, and amount of trade within and outside the district. It is said that there are several similarities between Markusen and Porter’s work. (Fraizer and Zelbst, 2010) Corporate Social Responsibility Affected by the globalization and thus growing importance and awareness of ethics and human rights, as well as being environmentally, socially and economically responsible, internationally operating corporations have to deal with a lot more issues than several years ago. This area of growing importance is called â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† (CSR) and will be explained as follows: In the past decades most of the corporations did not care about issues like sustainable development, business ethics, human rights or global citizenship, instead only focused on making as much financial profit as they can, however they could achieve it. But over the last several years the number of natural disasters and the increasing warming of the planet have made the people more aware of issues such as sustainable development and allocation of resources. Furthermore the globalization and advanced technologies such as the World Wide Web make the markets and the operations of internationally operating corporations much more transparent to all parties concerned. This is why consumer have also started to base their buying-decision on issues such as human rights, business ethics and sustainable development and take into account if a company does well in the field of â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† or not. Moreover, laws and public initiatives put a lot more pressure on corporations to improve ethical and sustainable actions in the regions they are operating in. As a consequence, companies started to consider these aspects more seriously than before and tried to implement such topics in their strategic activities. To combine ethical, environmental and social aspects with economic aspects is a challenge and one of the most difficult strategic issues corporations have to deal with. Nowadays, corporations are ade feel responsible for the regions they are operating in, as well as for the people who are working for them. Because of that, â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† has become one of the core strategic issues of them to maintain a good image, which is finally responsible for their financial results. By investing in their employees, in infrastructure of the region they are operating in and in acting natural friendly or investing in sustainable energy, corporations not only generate a greater image of them and help the public, they also make finally profit out of it. Because of that, we can say that it is a â€Å"win-win situation† for both. Customers are being strongly influenced by such issues, because they sensitively recognize the â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† performance of a corporation. When a company does well in this field, the customer is finally willing to buy its product or to keep on buying its product, because he or she feels comfortable investing in a company who helps the public and treats its employees very well. This finally results in better revenues, which is a financial parameter. Furthermore employees are feeling much more comfortable and thus work more efficient, when the corporation gives them the feeling of feeling important and investing in them. Higher Efficiency finally results in better products, which affects the buying-decision of the customer, again. Moreover business partner and suppliers are more willing to cooperate with a corporation, who has a good image and who treats them fairly. By cooperating with good business partner and suppliers the corporation ensures good quality of its products, which finally results in better products and thus greater customer-satisfaction, again. So we can see that there is a strong correlation between the financial performance of a corporation and its social performance, which we also know as â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility†. Additionally, according to Kanji and Chopra (2010) these are the six dimensions in CSR that are most important for companies, they are (1) Organizational Strategic Planning Systems, (2) Social accountability and Social Investment, (3) Environment Protection and sustainability, (4) Corporate Governance and Economic Responsibility, (5) Ethics and Human Resources, and (6) Corporate Social Responsibility Index. Furthermore, there are more advantages of â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† than the financial one, which we can see while looking at the business relations, mentioned above. Although, â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† has become much more important over the last years, it is still a field, which has to be more researched about, when we refer to the number of articles already published. The less number of articles published in this field could be related to its definitions, which are very broaden and sometimes difficult to express, because of large number of issues involved. To sum it up, because of the growing awareness of ethical, social and sustainable activities of corporations the field of â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility† has become a core strategic activity of corporations and for some even a source of competitive advantage. Location decision, clusters and CSR in relationship. As one can already notice when reading the in-depth perspectives above, there are some common grounds for the three topics. When one forms a cluster it will likely increase the country opportunity by specifically creating very attractive industry opportunities. As the cluster generates knowledge, resources, and capabilities attractive for some specific firms. Moreover, they create the necessary infrastructure and often the right political climate is thus present. Often this contributes to better economic circumstances in that area or region, increasing the market opportunities. Market opportunities are strongly connected to corporate social responsibility. Often industrialized countries demand more corporate social responsibility of a firm than a developing country does. Again this whole process influences the location decision that a company has to make and the market attractiveness for a firm.

Evaluation of External Envoirment and Business Etnics. Apple Assignment

Evaluation of External Envoirment and Business Etnics. Apple Corporation - Assignment Example PESTEL analysis is used for the external environment analysis here. Moreover, the marketing strategies for the firm to be adopted if they want to invest in these markets are examined with the help of Ansoff matrix. Recommendations regarding the appropriateness of investment in both markets by Apple Corporation are made based on the analysis here. This essay consists of the following sections. Section 2 discusses the results of PESTEL analysis for these two nations. Section 3 discusses the recommendations based on the analysis and the marketing strategies to be adopted by the firm for investment using Ansoff matrix. Section 4 concludes the essay. PEST analysis means the analysis of Political, Economic, Social and Technological (PEST) factors that assess the strategic decisions of a company (Oxford University, 1998;Bennet,1999).This analysis is also called STEP analysis(Peng and Nunes,2007).PESTEL Analysis is an updated form of PEST analysis which includes analysis of Environmental and Legislative factors also. This analysis is very important in assessing the external environment factors affecting an organization.... EST analysis means the analysis of Political, Economic, Social and Technological (PEST) factors that assess the strategic decisions of a company (Oxford University, 1998;Bennet,1999).This analysis is also called STEP analysis(Peng and Nunes,2007).PESTEL Analysis is an updated form of PEST analysis which includes analysis of Environmental and Legislative factors also. This analysis is very important in assessing the external environment factors affecting an organization. Here the PESTEL analysis of both Brazil and China are done to examine the most appropriate destination for investment by Apple Corporation. The analysis of Political, Economic, Social and Technological, legal and environmental factors that assess the strategic decisions of a company are examined in both the cases. 2.1. PESTEL Analysis China Political Factors China has a stable political system with only one party ie Communist party (Cui, 2009). In the recent years, however, China has reported a trend towards democrati c form of government while Communist party still remain the single party here without any change (Price Water House Coopers, 2005). This stable political system is an important factor conducive for international investment in China (Word Press, 2011).The political environment for international investors is very favourable in China due to the various incentives provided by the government in spite of the complexity of norms for the new investors. Reports show a preferential treatment towards foreign invested enterprises since 1979 by Chinese government (Tian, 2007). Approval procedure is complicated while after getting approval, it is easy there (Word Press, 2011). Economic Factors A very good indicator of the strength of Chinese economy is its GDP of 10.1 percent which shows the continuous

Develop a workplace learning environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Develop a workplace learning environment - Essay Example Training functions will have to run differently as organizations expect more evidence that they are contributing to organizational success. In response to calls for changes in the way training has traditionally been done, many have responded by calling for redefining the mission of training, renaming training, and even firing or getting rid of in-house training altogether because it is not costeffective. In short, the pressure is on for trainers and training functions to reinvent, reengineer, revitalize, remake, and improve what they do I am a manager for a workplace group comprising 6 persons, deployed as follows: Manager Employee relations, personnel consultant, HR development consultant, OH&S safely consultant, Industrial Relations Consultant & Reception/Clerical Administrative. Background: This research focus upon the main unit services the HRM needs of a national construction/building company employing 900 persons, ranging across Architectural, Engineering & Quantity surveying professionals, Para-professional building technicians, trades persons, managers & clerical support persons. Recently the company has upgraded its computer network moving to windows XP operating from windows 98 and the earlier MS Office 2000 package. You have conducted a training needs analysis on the group by observing and checking their work, interviewing the group members regarding their competencies with reference to their position descriptions and the team's goals. Needs Analysis No single training initiative, much less an entire function, can fulfill its purpose without a needs analysis. Needs analysis identifies the performance areas in which additional training (or nontraining) is needed; it also pinpoints the individuals or groups of employees who could most benefit from the training. In reinvented training, a needs analysis is an important part of a strategic approach to training. Such an approach maximizes the potential success of training efforts. Different levels of training needs analysis and methods of collecting information on training needs are reviewed, along with tools that managers and training personnel can use to analyze this information. The research will be of particular value in planning, developing, or refining training initiatives by showing that training needs analysis strategies, and the unique organizational characteristics, can and must be blended together to create effective training initiatives tailored to meeting an organization's special needs. Each organization is then in a position to expand the application of training in a dynamic manner to all its employees. Designing And Implementing Program The literatures suggested using internal and external trainers, on-the-job training and off-the-job training approaches, good location and instruction in training and development (Jackson & Schuler, 2003, p360-393). However, Berge, deVerneil, Berge, Davis and Smith (2002, p43) recognized that well-designed instruction did not guarantee performance, and most HRD practitioners still spent the bulk of their time in the design and delivery of class-room-based training events. Grugulis (1998, p383) pointed out that the managers also

Children with autism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Children with autism - Essay Example Peer influence plays a dominant role in the development of social relations with others in the community. Children with autism can benefit from friendship and good social relationships. Some of the functions of social relations include natural support function. In that participants can have a non-contingent source of support to enable them accomplish tasks. The other function is that social relations serve as informational and social learning. In this case, participants acquire information concerning the acceptable social convections through interactions and feedback from acquaintances. The third function is advocacy function where social relations cite statements to promote their self-worth. Lastly, social relations serve an affirming action where the participants gain a sense of competence. An analysis of social interaction of kindergarten children reveals that social exchanges prompt positive statements for children. The available developmental data indicates that interactions sta rt from social overtures to an equitable reciprocal basis. The initial intervention efforts aimed to evaluate the functional effects of an increased level of social overtures rarely expose to the positive approach behavior from peers. Chiesa & Serretti (2011) say that Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and other interventions such as Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) are psychological treatments that can cure chronic pain. Other therapeutic interventions such as surgical techniques provide limited pain reduction in only a subset of patients. The author asserts that MBSR is a meditation initiative conceived in the late 70s in an effort to integrate Buddhist mindfulness meditation with modern clinical and psychological practice. The application of the program to treat different diseases shows good efficacy for mental and physical disorders. MBSR consists of three different techniques that include a body scan, sitting meditation, and

Ethical and Moral Issues in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethical and Moral Issues in Business - Essay Example For instance in India a person that eats cows is considered immoral by the majority of society due to the fact that the cow is a sacred animal. In America eating cow meat is a moral act. Managers of corporations often face ethical dilemmas in their decision making process. The decision of closing down an American factory in order to open up an operation in a foreign country is an example of an ethical dilemma. Many people belief that American corporations should look out for the best interest of its home country. Patriotism is a moral view that is very popular in the United States. The other side of the coin is that the company can lower its operating costs and increase profitability by closing down the factory in the U.S. and moving to an emerging economy such as India, China, or South Africa. Either decision is justifiable depending on the moral view of the company and its managerial staff. Personal ethics and business ethics are two distinct concepts that sometimes collide with each other. Characteristics associated with personal ethics include spirituality, virtue, morals, and altruism (Lichtman, 2010). A person’s personal ethics can influence his buying behavior. A person that has strong beliefs in environmentalism is more likely to buy an electric or hybrid car. Personal ethics may also influence other decisions in a person’s life such as his nutrition, religions beliefs, and lifestyle. The personal ethics of an individual determine how much he cares about others. People that are socially conscious are more likely to donate money to non-profit organizations such as Feed The Children. â€Å"Ethics is the activity of man directed to secure the inner perfection of his own personality† (Schweitzer). A critical success factor for companies in the 21st century is business ethics. Business ethics refers to moral principles concerning acceptable and unacceptable behavior by business people (Answers, 2012). Business ethics differs from personal ethics in

One Of The Hong Kong Listed Property Companies Invites Your Research Essay

One Of The Hong Kong Listed Property Companies Invites Your Research Institute To Formulate A Research Proposal To Them - Essay Example Hong Kong well illustrates patterns of a distinct Asian business model that has resulted in the growth and influence of large gargantuan business enterprises. The Hong Kong housing market is dominated by a hand full of these large companies that include Cheung Kong, Henderson Land, and SHK PPT among others. The growth of Cheung Kong, for example, underscores specific ways of pursuing business and industrial growth based on certain Asian principles and management styles. These styles project paternalistic family control and trust and the respectful acceptance of authority. Pyramid structures of benefit permeate the leadership hierarchy of these Asian firms along with family cross-shareholdings of subsidiary companies. Hong Kong’s rapid economic growth is described by Xiabin et al (2004) as a period of economic restructuring that has seen the country evolve from a manufacturing center to a business, commerce and finance center, with most of its working force moving into the serv ice industries. Influenced by processes of economic liberalisation, globalization, and government downsizing, the restructuring has resulted in a net rise of the middle-income population of Hong Kong, but since 1971 there has been a profound drop in the sharing of income by the bottom households while the income of the top 30% has shown a continual increase in income share (pp. 447-451). The authors note "there has been a steady exacerbation of income inequality in Hong Kong over the past 35 years" (p. 452) and, "There is no evidence of wealth trickling down from the top to the bottom" (p. 457). Nor have adequate services been expanded for the bottom poor. Xiabin et al (2004) emphasize the unsympathetic government policy of minimum intervention as a major factor in the ongoing policy of inequality. Resources provided for social welfare are sparse in comparison to resources for the more favored private sector. The authors propose the government avoids policies ameliorating income ine quality in order to maintain "business-friendly" policies toward private interests and avoid a "dependency culture" that would discourage unemployed people from working and affect economic growth in negative ways. Despite a sterling economic growth that has made it one of world's largest centers of concentrated among the world's wealthiest economies, Hong Kong demonstrates the highest degree of economic disparity among its seven million citizens. The United Nations report Hong Kong as having the highest Gini coefficient of 43.4, a measure of economic disparity between the rich in the poor, among all Asian cities (Oxfram). As of September, 2010, 10.2% of working families were living in poverty in Hong Kong (Oxfram). The Hong Kong Council of Social Service reported recently, October, 2010, that 1.26 million of the 7 million citizens were living in poverty, nearly one/fifth of the population (Wong, 2010). The contrast stands stark and grim where three million of seven million citizens live in public housing. Under current public policy, the gap between rich and poor in Hong Kong is steadily increasing. In 1997, The Canadian Magazine Maclean's highlighted the nearly 100,000 Hong Kong displaced workers living in the small spaces or "cages" where larger spaces are divided into small cubicles with wire (Wood, 1997). Web blogs and YouTube videos today provide stark